The Garden Magazine, February, 1922 



319 



(Rhododendron, Alpine Azalea and, generally, Heaths, Willows, 

 Empetrums, etc.) but for the most part, propagation from seed 

 is sufficiently rapid to compensate for all the needed care and 

 precaution. 



Sowing seed in the open ground is not advisable, except where 

 the creation of wild or alpine pasture is sought. If such is the 

 aim, then a mixture of seed of rapidly germinating kinds and 

 species of plants partaking of a similar nature, should be made 

 — I mean, of species capable of growing amicably together, other- 

 wise the more robust choke and kill the feebler growers. I have 

 seen superb results obtained in this way. But, for this, it is 

 imperative to select species of sure and rapid germination as 

 herbaceous Flax, Helianthemums, Aquilegias, certain Primulas, 

 Erysimum Allionii, Centaureas, ornamental Thistles, Eryngium 

 coeruleum and E. planum, Iceland Poppies, Pentstemon, Cam- 

 panulas, Polemonium, Platycodon, Salvia, Veronicas, Pansies, 

 Silenes, various Galliums, Erigeron, Aster, Erodium, Dianthus, 

 etc. A well composed and harmonized mixture makes a delight- 

 ful picture, producing changing effects during the whole 

 season. 



When the Alpines are of those kinds essentially destined, not 

 for pastures, but for rock-work, walls, or borders, sow the seed 

 in pots or in pans and in coldframes — never in a heated green- 

 house. In my volume, " Les Plantes des Montagnes et des 

 Rochers" I give detailed instructions for sowing, for picking out 

 the seedlings, and for their care until time to plant them per- 

 manently. In tabloid form, these are as follows: 



Prepare a light, sandy soil, just sufficiently nourishing to 

 supply the necessary elements to the baby plants. I use: i of 

 peat or heather soil; i of plain, good earth; i of sand — granitic 

 or limestone, according to the affinity of the plant. Provide 

 thorough drainage in each pot or pan. 



In the continental climate it is advisable to place above the 

 drainage a slight layer of sphagnum moss, thus inducing con- 



stant and even moisture. For very dry and hot climates, pow- 

 dered sphagnum added to the soil is beneficial. 



If possible, plunge the pots or pans in cinders in a well-venti- 

 lated coldframe. If snow should chance to fall, it is well to 

 let it penetrate to the seeds and seedlings. 



In sowing the seed, cover it with but little soil, particularly if 

 the seed be fine; and be careful to water lightly, so that the seed 

 be neither washed up nor buried. 



It goes without saying that these remarks concern such species 

 as do not germinate easily; they do not concern ordinary her- 

 baceous plants, which, for the most part, may be sown directly 

 in the earth of the border or the frame as Lettuce and Cabbage 

 are sown. 



Remember, too, that there are kinds which germinate slowly. 

 This is the case with the Gentians, the Ranunculus, the Ura- 

 bellifers, the Lilies, and several other families. 



As the seedlings commence to gain strength, they must be 

 pricked out; that is to say, they must be separated and planted 

 at a certain distance, one from another. Then, when once they 

 are strong enough to support complete isolation, they must go 

 into thumb-pots, after which the next move is to the open border 

 and the rock-work, or else to larger pots. From that moment 

 they are acclimatized. 



Doctor Yersin, Director of the Pasteur Institute in Annam, 

 and famous' for having conquered the Plague, has established 

 an Alpine garden at Hon-Ba under the very worst conditions 

 for the culture of high mountain plants. Nevertheless, by sow- 

 ing seed he has succeeded in raising and cultivating a very fine 

 collection of Alpines, and certain kinds bloom even better than 

 they do in their natural habitats, appearing to be perfectly at 

 home in that tropical climate. Correspondents in New Zealand, 

 Australia, China, Japan, North and South America, and in 

 climates very different from that of Geneva have achieved sur- 

 prising results. 



II. THE LESSONS OF A LIFE-TIME WITH MOUNTAIN PLANTS 



CLARENCE LOWN 



Editors' Note: — All the leisure hours of Mr. Lown's long life have been devoted to the collection and growing of Mountain Plants in his 

 garden at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where the natives of the Rockies stand shouldering those of the European Alps and all thriving together. He is ac- 

 knowledged as the most experienced American cultivator of this class of plants. 



ANY rock garden- 

 ers growing the 

 i^zkji commoner rock 

 plants are getting 

 interested in the Alpines 

 and the rarer rock plants. 

 As some of these gardeners 

 are inexperienced in the 

 treatment of mountain 

 plants, a short chapter as 

 to their requirements may 

 not be amiss. 



I had many failures 

 years ago because of my 

 lack of knowledge of their 

 needs as to soil and situa- 

 tion and that others may 

 not suffer undue losses, I 

 am writing this to urge the 

 importance of thorough 

 preparatory work in mak- 

 ing the rock garden, par- 

 ticularly as to soil. The 

 structural work is better 

 described in some of the 



A PEEP INTO THE COLLECTOR'S GEM BOX 



In Mr. Clarence Lown's garden at Poughkeepsie is to be found the most 

 complete assemblage of choice A'P' nes on this side of the Atlantic. Mr. 

 Lown and Mrs. Wilder may be seen absorbedly discussing the pros and cons 



English books — there is no 

 comprehensive American 

 treatise. 



If ordinary soil is used 

 in the rock garden and no 

 especial pains are taken as 

 to drainage, many of these 

 plants will do beautifully 

 in the early months and 

 the gardener will be de- 

 lighted with the ease with 

 which they may be grown. 

 But this is somewhat in 

 the nature of a false tri- 

 umph and a different story 

 is told when real summer 

 comes. The heat is bad 

 enough and if the weather 

 be dry, watering is to be 

 done at evening; then the 

 plants will be fairly com- 

 fortable. But it is when we 

 have a spell of hard show- 

 ers, with heat and humid- 

 ity, that these same plants 



